Stephen J.Kopp

(Marshall Universi-ty), 63, was finish-ing his ninth yearas president ofMarshall Universityin Huntington,West Virginia, when he died unex-pectedly on Dec. 17, 2014. Duringhis tenure as president, Marshallexperienced unprecedentedgrowth. Kopp oversaw the con-struction of $300 million in newbuildings and facility renovations,helped increase undergraduateenrollment to record-high levels,and created new high-demandmajors and degree programs, in-cluding digital forensics andschools of pharmacy, physicaltherapy and public health. Hecalled for the creation of an Hon-ors College and took great pride inthe Phi Kappa Phi chapter housedthere after its installation in 2010.

Prior to his career at Marshall,
Kopp was Special Assistant to the
Chancellor with the Ohio Board of
Regents; provost at Ohio University; and founding dean of both the
Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions at Central Michigan University and the
College of Allied Health Professions at Midwestern University.

Kopp earned a B.S. in biology from
the University of Notre Dame and
a Ph.D. in physiology and biophysics from the University of Illinois at
Chicago.

Charles NelsonMaynard

(Georgia Instituteof Technology), 78,excelled on nu-merous fronts. Hegraduated as vale-dictorian of Deca-tur (GA) High School, lettered inbasketball, baseball and football,and was named All State quarter-back his junior and senior years.

Attending Georgia Tech on a fullfootball scholarship, Maynardearned high honors as an industri-al engineering major. He receiveda master’s degree with highesthonors from Massachusetts Insti-tute of Technology. Maynard thenserved in the Air Force as an aerol-ogy officer and was part of thefirst crew to fly into the eye of ahurricane as a pioneer hurricanehunter. He joined Mead PackagingCorporation, rising to vice presi-dent of production, and retiring35 years later to Lake Chatuge.Preceded in death by a daughter,he passed away on Oct. 15, 2014.

Grace SheridanDahle Muirhead(University of Wis-consin-Madison),75, balanced nu-merous interests.She pursued civiccauses includingabortion rights and environmentalactivism, performing arts such asthe piano and singing, and diversepastimes ranging from gourmetcooking to playing bridge. In re-tirement Muirhead co-wrote the-ater reviews for her area newspa-per. An English education major atUW-Madison, she was active instudent affairs while working atcampus jobs. Muirhead attendedCornell University for graduateschool. She taught high school fora few years and, later, English toJapanese college students. Muir-head also was a technical editor atseveral Silicon Valley companies.Preceded in death by her secondhusband of 25 years, Muirheadpassed away on Sept. 2, 2014.

Constance ParrNavratil

(Louisiana StateUniversity), 84, as-sumed leadingroles onstage andbehind the scenesin classical musicand musical theater in BatonRouge, Louisiana. Trained as a so-prano, she appeared as a soloistwith the Baton Rouge Symphonyand Louisiana Sinfonietta, alongwith the New Orleans, LakeCharles, Birmingham and Alabamasymphonies. She hosted classicalmusic programming on WRKF, thelocal public radio station, from thetime it went on the air in 1980through her death, and served asits first program director. Com-mendations included the Key tothe City and the Mayor-President’sAward for Excellence in the Arts.

Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, she and her family moved
to London and survived the
bombings of World War II. She
graduated from Trinity College of
Music. After moving to Baton
Rouge with her husband, Navratil
earned a master’s degree in voice
from LSU, proudly stating in her
bio that she “graduated Phi Kappa
Phi.” She died following an automobile accident on Oct. 6, 2014.

GeraldineHebdon Roos(Brigham YoungUniversity), 82, de-voted herself toteaching, family,and church. Afterattending BYU andgraduating from University ofUtah, the Salt Lake City nativetaught in Houston and then in andaround Salt Lake, spending thefinal 14 years of her career at Cas-cade Elementary in Orem as amusic specialist. Roos also was anordinance worker in the ProvoTemple, a volunteer in the Bounti-ful Temple, and a guide on TempleSquare, in addition to being amember of the Mormon Taberna-cle Choir. Preceded in death byher husband, Roos passed awayon Oct. 5, 2014.

James J. Thompson

(Purdue University), 73, promoted
workplace well-being as a health
physicist. He was head of health
protection operations at Lovelace
Inhalation Toxicology Institute
from the early 1970s until the mid-

1990s, associate professor and director of the department of radiological health and radiation safety
at University of Utah from 1994 to
2001, and manager at Sandia National Labs until retirement in

2011. Thompson attended Univer-sity of New Mexico on a scholar-ship from the Naval Reserve Offi-cer Training Corps, earning a B.A.in chemistry. As a naval officer heserved in Antarctica and othersites, remaining active in the NavalReserve until retiring as a captainin 1989. Thompson earned bothan M.A. and a Ph.D. in bionucleon-ics from Purdue. Assistant scout-master with the Boy Scouts, healso enjoyed judging the NewMexico state science fair and wasan avid genealogist. He died onAug. 4, 2014.

Daniel J.

Werner(California StateUniversity, Sacra-mento), 66, servedhis country andthe infirm. Afterhigh school heworked at U.S. Steel, then in 1967enlisted in the Air Force, trainingas a weather equipment techni-cian. Assignments took him toVietnam, England and Germany,before honorable discharge as astaff sergeant in 1976. Wernerthen attended night school toearn a B.A. in business administra-tion from Sacramento State andreceived a master’s degree in hos-pital healthcare administrationfrom University of Minnesota. Hebecame vice president at Mt. SinaiHospital in Minneapolis and St.Mary’s Regional Medical Center inReno, Nevada, before serving aschief executive officer of hospitalsin Minnesota, Delaware and Iowa,retiring in 2012. Preceded in deathby two brothers, Werner passedaway on Sept. 21, 2014.

Augusta C.Yrle

(University of NewOrleans), 71, madeThe Big Easyproud. The lifelongNew Orleaniangraduated in thetop one percent of her high schoolclass, then earned bachelor’s, mas-ter’s and doctoral degrees in edu-cation from UNO. Yrle also re-ceived an M.B.A. from Loyola Uni-versity. She taught in the OrleansParish public school system and atSt. Mary’s Dominican College be-fore landing her dream job atUNO, where she taught manage-ment for almost 40 years. In 1989she formed the still-extant Ac-counting Associates Inc. to helpsmall and medium-sized business-es. Active in Mardi Gras, Yrlereigned as Queen of the Krewe ofPegasus in 1967. She died on Aug.24, 2014, at her Metairie home.